It Takes Two
by Delgodess
Summary: She'd done everything right. She should have been in the clear. But here she was, three months later, standing on the doorstep of a strange apartment. Kakashi/Oc. Slow Romance.
1. Right

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Naruto**_**.**

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**One: **_Right_

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She'd done everything right. She'd taken the pill, and the morning after she'd taken another. She'd made sure to bring (and use) protection. She'd even gone to that special class, the one that showed you how to temporarily stop the bleeding.

By all rights, she should have been in the clear. But here Anna was, three months later, standing on the doorstep of a strange apartment, staring listlessly at a burnished number thirty-two.

She sighed, fisting her hands in the pockets of her faded sweater. Autumn had arrived, it's cool weather promising to make this next encounter even more uncomfortable than it ought to be.

The young woman fidgeted in her too-big clothing, hiding the impossible from view. Her worn shoes scraped against the floor of the landing she stood on, listless eyes staring out across the town she tentatively called home. Bright with happy colors and alive with movement and sound, the place really wasn't all that bad. It was a pity the city was fated for misfortune. Had it been any other time, she might have considered settling.

But enough of this; she was stalling.

Anna turned to the door and knocked before she let herself dawdle any further.

It opened promptly, as if the person standing in the doorway had known she was there, had _sensed_ her somehow and had just been... waiting.

The man took a moment to observe her before folding his arms and leaning his lithe form against the jam, turning his blank eyes towards her face.

Anna struggled to do the same, trying to ignore the defined muscles of his torso as they pressed against the fabric of his navy shirt, the way little things were reminding her of that night.

_The brush of callused hands. Hot breath. Teeth scrapping against skin. A jolt and then-_

She fixed her gaze on the tapering line of his shoulder, mouth opening in pained determination.

Skipping the preamble, the introductions and the small talk, she got straight to the point.

Brown flickered to grey.

"Three months ago we had a one night stand... " She began, grimacing, but pressing on. "...and I'm pregnant because of it."

He didn't move from his place, didn't move to speak. Anna's hands fisted in her pockets once more.

She swallowed, struggling to get it out, to go through with what she promised herself she would. She forced herself to look at him, to see his eyes, never mind that one was covered by a lopsided band of cloth.

"It's your mistake as much as my own." His head tilted just so and she paused, inhaling slowly before releasing the pent air. Deflated, she finished. "I just wanted to know what you want me to do with it."

"Get rid of it."

Anna froze, expression falling before she could hide it. Her mouth felt dry and she didn't bother to move her hair out the way when an errant gust of wind pushed a few brown strands into her face. She felt...

She didn't know how she felt.

She'd known that this would be the most probable outcome when she'd decided to come here, but still...

...he'd said it so quickly.

Anna bit her tongue, forcing the corner of her mouth to lift into a sheepish, if fake, smile.

Then she nodded, suppressing the strange stabs of hurt and disappointment pricking in her chest.

_It wouldn't have worked out anyway._

"Alright." She kept smiling, bobbing her head again in a short bow. "Sorry to bother you."

Then she turned away from his masked visage, heading down the stairs with the gate of someone lost in their own mind.

She barely heard the door close over the buzzing in her head, memories of silver glinting in the moonlight like the liquid that glazed her eyes.

Anna had to believe that she'd done the right thing in asking him. He'd needed to know.

She looked up when she reached the street, watching the bustle of morning traffic, listening to the sounds of chatting mothers and playing children. She could smell the ramen shop around the corner and shivered when she felt the cold autumn wind rush by.

Anna rubbed her face dry.

Took a deep, long breath.

And stepped into the street with her head held high.

_She'd been right to ask him._

But in the end...

It had always been up to her.

* * *

On the other side of the closed door of apartment thirty-two, Hatake Kakashi let his head fall against the wood with a dull _thunk_.

He took a deep, long breath.

And then he opened the door.

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**AN: A "What If" story. Kakashi unintentionally starts a family and doesn't die an unattached, lonely bachelor. Because short of an arranged marriage, I just can't see it happening. Enjoy! And review!  
**

**~Delgodess**

**4/30/2015 AN: Regarding the Oc's obviously European name: I am aware that it is out of place in a Japanese setting. However, it is not random and was done with purpose. Ta!**


	2. Safe

**Two**: _Safe_

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He followed her. Over familiar rooftops, around lightning poles, through lines of clothing hung up to dry. The tiles felt warm against his fingertips, the swish and pull of his energy comforting as it traveled through his limbs with practiced ease.

He watched her greet the people she knew and smile at those she didn't, the response nearly always the same: tense smiles and cautious eyes, masking the suspicion directed at her, a foreigner. But she ignored it well, brushing it off the same way she brushed the loose curls from her face.

She wasn't what he'd call beautiful. Or pretty. Not that she was ugly either, just...

...plain.

Thin lips, a plump square nose, thick, if manicured, eyebrows.

She had attractive attributes, like her long neck, windblown hair and brown eyes, but when placed with her other features, they faded into mediocrity.

He couldn't really make out her figure in the clothes she was wearing, but he didn't need to. Wide hips, small breasts.

Not his type.

But he _had_ slept with her.

The bar had been more crowded than usual that night, every sorry wretch seeking a bit of relaxation after the fiasco that was the Chunnin Exams. The invasion left the people leaderless, exhausted and on edge. It also kept the bars busy.

He'd just found out that he'd lost two students. One to a mad man and the other to the futile quest of finding him. He hadn't seen the last since he'd woken in the hospital, her tear-stained face peeking out at him from behind his new Hokage.

He'd failed them all. What better than to forget for awhile?

He'd taken notice of her immediately after she'd stepped into the room.

Not because he'd been looking to hook up; but because it was so painfully obvious that she was a civilian.

_In a shinobi bar_.

It wasn't a taboo for crowds to mix, just a social nicety. Civilians tended to stay away when tensions were running high.

But there she was, clueless fresh meat.

So he'd acted before the wolves moved in, distracting her with pleasant charm and pretty flattery, glaring the dogs down all the while.

They'd talked. Had a few drinks. And went back to his apartment.

It amused him how prepared she was, despite her nervousness. His hands flashed through a jutsu anyway, just in case.

It was obvious that she hadn't really known what she was doing, but it had been awhile for him too, so he kept things simple. Safe.

He knew he hadn't been her first, but he _can_ say, with no little satisfaction, that he _had_ been her best.

She left in the darkness before pre-morning. He'd been awake for the lingering kiss on his cheek, the softly spoken _thank you_.

It was odd, in all the ways only healing old hurts is odd, and he contented himself with the knowledge that he'd helped, however unintentionally.

Then he forgot. Life moved on. Worry for his crumbled team pulled at him, back to back missions in the wake of his villages fallout exhausted him, and Obito's eye ever taunted him in the mirror.

And now... _this_.

Kakashi crouched on the edge of the hospital roof, eyes tailing her as she moved steadily towards the doors of the adjoining clinic.

She stopped.

Stepping to one side, she looked down, pale hands lingering hesitantly over her stomach.

He could see the emotions race across her face, clearly visible to the trained observer.

He saw the moment something clicked, the softness in her eyes hardening. She stepped forward, hand reaching out to pull the door open-

-and suddenly he was there, long fingers wrapping around her wrist before he'd even realized he'd moved.

She jumped, clutching her chest, but, surprisingly, didn't try to pull away.

He stared. She stared back expectantly. And he dropped her hand like a snake.

Then Kakashi felt the first stirrings of panic.

Because what do you say to a woman who's just told you she's carrying your child?

Rubbing the back of his neck bought him some time to recover from the abruptness of his own actions, helping him gather his thoughts and form the words.

"We need to talk."

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**AN: A bit from Kakashi. Review Please!  
**

**~Delgodess**


	3. Real

**Three**: _Real_

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He led her away from the clinic where she'd planed to make the appointment. Guided her through the mid morning market rush with the ease of someone wondering a path of habit. He didn't walk beside her, didn't look at her and didn't touch her.

Yet, somehow she found the crowds parting for her, or rather, for _him_. It was as if he knew where to move, _how_ to move, by sheer instinct. People saw him, but they didn't really _notice_ him. And by extension, _her_.

Their meandering path brought them out of the commercial district and into a residential, the sound of hammers and other construction equipment echoing in the distance as workers continued to rebuild the buildings destroyed four months ago, in the invasion.

But even that faded away, the packed dirt road petering off into smaller trails and lush country side, old oaks and cedars sprouting between stately sycamores.

She heard the water before she saw it, following his leisurely walk around a forested bend to greet the sight of a quaint little wooden bridge.

It was red.

Anna paused, staring at it.

In the two years that she had lived here, Anna had been content to stay within the small radius created by her most frequent haunts. That is: her one room apartment, her job at the bathhouse, the market, and the library. She did not stray into paths unknown. Even the bar where she'd met _him_ had been within this exceptionally small region.

The reasons for this were moot. Suffice to say; one experience had lead to another, which helped her gain a healthy appreciation for the phrase: "Better safe, than sorry."

Hence, she had not explored her new home outside her appointed boundaries and was not in any way familiar with the area.

But she recognized this bridge.

Something raw and stinging gaped within her, a longing for a place she hadn't seen in over five years. An old ache that she had contented herself to feeling for the rest of her days. Days, because she hadn't known how long she would last.

But she was a survivor.

She'd survived the transition with much difficulty, had made it to the one place she'd naïvely thought would be safe.

She survived.

She _continued_ to survive.

But seeing this obscure, little bridge triggered memories, reminded her of what she'd lost.

So Anna stepped forward onto the worn planks, ran her shaking hands along the red wood railing with the reverence of a children's story made real, and tried, _tried_, to swallow back tears.

Even _he_ hadn't evicted such an emotional response.

This clinched it.

This was real.

If there had been _any_ doubt before... now there was none.

The man walking away from her towards a large black stone monument was Hatake Kakashi.

This place was Konohagakure, the shinobi village Hidden in the Leaves.

She was pregnant.

And she was _very_ far from home.

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**AN: And some of the mystery of Anna's past has been solved! Or it just created more questions…**

**Review Please!**

**~Delgodess**


	4. Something

Kakashi registered that the young woman was still behind him, but was too caught up with his own inner demons to see anything beyond a slab of hewn rock. He hadn't meant to bring her here, to lay witness to his greatest shame, even if she had no knowledge of it.

But the irony...

...one shame meeting the other.

It was cruel.

And he deserved every second of it.

He pulled himself roughly from thoughts of self-loathing, pocketing his gloved hands and slumping forward into his habitual slouch.

Then he turned his dark gaze to the woman who'd finally made it to his side.

Her eyes were puffy, he noted, her features tired as she cast a long stare over the names chiseled into stone.

Had she been crying?

Understandable, given the circumstances. Still, he'd hoped to get through this without random bouts of hormonal tears.

He opened his mouth to say… _something, _when –

"I'm leaving." She beat him to it.

_Wait. That wasn't right. Shouldn't she be-_

"Konoha, I mean. I was planning to leave before..." She gestured vaguely between the two of them.

She paused, feet digging into the green grass. Her expression was calm, too calm.

Kakashi's gaze sharpened. He observed the way she held her self, tensed for something unpleasant. The subtle way her hands curled in fists, chin lifted in defiance. Legs spread, shoulders back. Even her gaze was unnervingly direct.

She had already made her choice, he realized, and this... _this_ was just a courtesy.

And somehow, that made him inexplicably _angry_.

He lifted a hand to absently tug open a vest pocket, fingers tracing along the orange edge of the slim book placed there. He didn't remove it though, and that in itself was telling.

He picked her apart, analyzing. Worn, but well kept clothes: poor but frugal. The smell of soap and mineral water, a scent common in public bathing houses. A trace of something dry, musty. He watched as an involuntary shiver came across her, goose bumps rising on her exposed skin. Skin that was only slightly tanned, perhaps from time spent more indoors than out. But she was still talking, nervousness creeping into her voice from his prolonged silence. "You don't have to decide now-"

"-I could help." He interjected, coolly.

Her jaw clenched, the faintest hint of a glare entering her eyes.

"I don't want your money."

_Ah, so that's what it is._

Kakashi decided to change tactics. He shifted to better face her, leaving the memorial stone at his back.

"Why do you want to leave Konoha?"

She shrugged, glancing away quickly. He took note of the slight hitch in her breath, his head tilting like an inquisitive dog.

"When Sound attacked, my home was destroyed." The rough alto of her voice was matter-of-fact, flat even. It didn't match the significance of her words. "I'm living in temporary housing. I figured I'd try to get my feet back under me."

She looked back up then, waiting, but he didn't reply.

Her brown eyes rolled after yet another moment of awkward silence, a frustrated huff exploding out of her, features twisting in a scowl.

Kakashi's mouth twitched as he observed these little traces of anxiety, and he couldn't help but taunt her further with a single raised brow.

A rough, exasperated sigh left her, expressive eyes closing in resignation. They opened to fix him in an unimpressed stare.

"Look," she said pointedly, "this was a mistake. We both didn't mean for this to happen, and I'm _trying_ to fix it."

"It's as much my mistake as it is yours." Kakashi quipped back at her. Her resulting eye spasm would have been amusing if the situation had been any different.

The woman rubbed her face, nose wrinkling as she let out a pained groan. "_Why_ are you being so difficult?"

"Because I want proof."

He didn't need proof. The scent was there. Slightly different, but still _his_.

No. He needed _time_. Time to think, to plan.

_Why was _she_ being so difficult?_

"I'm leaving in two weeks." The young woman said firmly, running a hand through her wild hair. Her fingers got stuck in the tangles as she tried to smooth them out. "I just need to get my paperwork in order. I'll get the tests done, too. You have until then to figure out what you want."

Kakashi felt his features tightening against his will, jaw clenching at her audacity. Didn't she realize that if he decided he wanted... _this_, there was no way the Treaty of Clans would allow her to leave? Not with his blood, his legacy, growing within her..!

She wasn't looking at him, gazing instead at the scar riddled training posts of area seven. Her hands, fidgeting in her hair, stilled as she gave up on the strands, flinging them over her shoulder. The wind pushed them back into her face and she tucked them behind her ear with an irritated huff.

Kakashi shifted onto the balls of his feet, fighting back an incredulous, biting comment.

"If I need you for the tests, I'll stop by again. You can contact me at the Village Hot springs. I work at the bathhouse there."

...Or perhaps she did realize and was...giving...him...a way out?

_Why? _

She nodded absently, more to herself that him, and turned around, making to walk away-

-but he stopped her with a casual touch to her arm.

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he let his hand drop, visible eye crinkling in a practiced smile. "Maa, I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Anna." The foreign word fell naturally from her lips, lips that lifted in an awkward smile.

Her head dipped in another bow and she was off, loud civilian footsteps marking her as she skirted around the corner.

Kakashi frowned, visible eye closing in a slow blink.

That was an incredibly... one-sided conversation.

The girl, woman, _Anna_-

She was hiding something.

And it had nothing to do with their... _predicament_.

He straightened, rolling out the kinks in his shoulders and neck.

Two weeks though...

More than enough time to find out what.

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**AN: So, this chapter was ridiculously difficult for a variety of reasons, the first and most important of which is that I just couldn't seem to get the point of this chapter across. It kept on eluding me. So I settled for the nearest thing. Second, is that I absolutely **_**hate**_** writing dialogue. It always sounds stunted to me, which is why I try to keep things as simple as possible. This inability of mine then compounded with the fact that conversations of this nature would be difficult for **_**anyone**_**, let alone an emotionally stunted child-soldier, and well… yeah. Yuppie for awkward conversations. The last reason: I was asked to provide, well… **_**More**_**. Of **_**everything**_**. Chapter length, descriptions, emotion. I did try to add more, but this chapter was a whirlwind anyway, so we'll see.**

**Review Please!**

**~Delgodess**


	5. Snitch

Anna was frustrated.

She'd tried to relocate. To get the hell out of Konoha before anymore shit hit the fan. But, for some unexplainable reason, the immigration office was having none of it.

Oh, they'd had their reasons:

_The invasion damaged key buildings and it will take time to get things back in order. Another department has your files. Your records were lost in transit_.

But her personal favorite...

_Who are you again?_

There were a slew of other excuses, varying in authenticity, the last of which even bordered on absurd.

_"What do you mean, 'a man in a green leotard made off with the filing cabinets'? How did he lift them, let alone take them? Weren't they bolted to the ground?!"_

Yes, Anna was a tad bit frustrated.

Not so much because of the odd events that seemed determined to plague her, rather, because she _recognized_ what they were meant to do: _stall_.

It was the type of ridiculousness that only happens in fiction.

And it had Kakashi's fingerprints _all_ over it.

Oh nothing was _obvious_, she couldn't _prove_ anything. But how stupid did he think she was? Plenty of other people had just up and left after the invasion, no problem- no questions asked. It was the way of things. Economy crashes, you move on. But no, _she_ couldn't even get an appointment, let alone make it past security at the gates.

Anna clicked her tongue in annoyance, sidestepping a vegetable cart as she made her way through the market towards the hospital.

Today was the dreaded check up, and if _he_ also managed to appear from whatever dark hole he'd been hiding in, it would also double as a paternity test.

She'd left the note informing him of the meeting on his front door three days ago, the paper pinned in place with a rusty kunai she'd found on one her new, exploratory walks around the village.

She hoped he got the message.

But, _hot damn_, was she burning up. Anna scowled, tugging her frayed jacket open and earning a few odd looks as she did so, which she, in turn, promptly ignored. '_Stupid hot flashes_.' She grumped to herself, irate mind itching to get this over with so she could have a nap.

No matter the outcome of this meeting, she was still set on getting the hell out of dodge. Sure, she knew what kind of predicament she was in, but _god damnit_, bad luck followed the man around like a plague. She knew the shit that was going to go down, and quite frankly, finding a podunk little hamlet to live in on the fringes of known civilization sounded just dandy. No way she wanted to be here to see Konoha's decennial burning.

Anna snorted to herself at the thought, rubbing her belly absentmindedly as she stepped through the threshold of the hospital. She maneuvered her way carefully to the reception desk, struggling to avoid the busy nurses, gossiping- _er_, _discussing_, the new policies enacted by the Hokage- and barely teetered passed the harried-looking medic ninjas power walking to their assigned destinations. People sat uncomfortably in the silent waiting area, the obvious civilians whining over their 'wounds' and their less noticeable counter parts throwing desperate, futile glances towards promising exits while their chaperones pinned them to their seats with baleful stares.

For her part, Anna just wished that she could catch her breath enough to speak up to the expectant nurse behind the desk, lifting her low ponytail over a shoulder to cool her burning neck.

Finally swallowing, she spoke out. "I have a prenatal appointment?"

Berating herself silently for her questioning tone, Anna took the necessary paperwork from the nodding woman and silently found an empty, stiff wooden chair to sit on while filling it out. Rising a few minutes later with a groan, _her poor aching feet,_ Anna dropped it off and then settled in to wait.

She didn't know why she was so sensitive and sore everywhere, because she was barely into the second trimester, but it served to make her every action uncomfortable and her temper more irate than was strictly necessary. Perhaps that's why she found everything so unbearably irritating. _Bah_! Hormones.

Still, Anna preferred this over bouts of nausea. _Bleh_.

She glanced up, taking in the near empty lobby. When had…? Was it taking longer than normal for them to get to her? She _had_ made an appointment a head of time…

Huffing, she stared down at her entwined hands, the pale limbs resting softly against her slightly protruding abdomen.

This appointment would decide everything, because despite every pessimistic voice in her mind to the contrary, Anna wasn't really sure if she wanted to…_get_ _rid_ _of it_. A child would be a complication, _this_ child especially, but she couldn't deny the uneasiness she felt at terminating the pregnancy, nor the hurt when _he_-

The pregnant woman frowned, honey brown eyes darkening.

If she did keep it, what would happen to her? To _them_? Her feminist pride demanded she be independent, but this was _dangerous_ and-

Anna stilled, smoothing her hands down the bump, features softening.

-and it was hers. She didn't have anything when she'd first come here, and what she did have now was hard earned. She had been hurt before, almost irrevocably, but this was a chance at something new, something wonderful.

Should she give that up, just to be safe?

Anna sighed, crossing her legs beneath her faded skirt. She needed to make the decision, and soon. Time was running out.

"Anna?" A voice called, slipping a bit on the syllables. The dark haired woman looked up, tied back curls shifting, but smoothed down the open lapels of her jacket as she stood and walked towards the beckoning nurse.

"I'll take you to room four. The doctor will be with you in a few minutes."

"Thank you." She murmured soberly in reply, mood soured by her thoughts.

The nurse led her around a corner and past a silent, cream-colored hallway, the bustle of earlier eerily absent. Anna bit her lip as the neared the door to the appointed room, heart pounding. Suddenly, she didn't feel so good.

She swallowed, trying to calm her nerves.

Then she was left in the room, sitting on the crinkly paper bedspread and staring blankly at the counter and its adjoining sink.

She fiddled with the fabric of her red shirt, taking in the diagrams and encouraging posters on the walls without really seeing them. Time passed with each tick of the clock on the wall, and soon, Anna hears voices. They quiet as they near the door, but it is enough to know that at least one of them is angry.

Uneasiness fills her and she takes a deep breath, exhaling just as the door opens to reveal her doctor, followed by a one-eyed, silver-haired man who slinks in and slouches unrepentantly against the far wall.

But Anna pays him no mind, stunned to open-mouthed astonishment. The woman before her stands straight-backed on her heels, blond hair framing her face and stern, piercing eyes looking straight into hers.

It's the Hokage herself.

Anna turns a scathing glare on the source of all her problems, infuriated by his unmistakable audacity.

A little orange book comes out and her glare sharpens.

That little _snitch_.


End file.
